Mario does everything, doesn't he? Soccer, Tennis, Golf--and now Baseball! The Great American Pastime. Here are some tips and techniques to help you be successful at Mario Superstar Baseball.

Steps

1

Go to Practice on the Main Menu. This tutorial will work you through the basic mechanics of Mario Superstar Baseball.

2

Gain Experience in "Exhibition Game" mode. Choose an accurate difficulty level. If you are a beginner, you should probably set it to "weak". Now select a team captain. The captain will be your default starting pitcher, although this can be changed when you arrange your lineup before the game. For reasons to be explained later, you may also want a captain with good relationships with others. For instance, Mario gets along with Luigi, but not Bowser or Wario.

3

Learn all the different types of players.

Balance Players: These are well-rounded characters who are near average in all categories, which include batting, pitching, fielding and running. Balance Captains: Mario, Luigi, Daisy, Birdo.

Technique Players: Technique characters are generally poor batters, with near average speed. However, their pitching and/or fielding makes up for the lack of offense. Technique Captains: Peach, Waluigi

Speed Players: Speed characters are very fast runners who range from average to very poor in terms of batting. Speed Players vary greatly from one another in fielding and pitching. Speed Captains: Yoshi, Diddy Kong

Power Players: Power Players are very good batters, who smash long hits and home runs more often than other players. However, they are usually very slow runners and very poor fielders. Some Power players are actually quite good pitchers, while some are the exact opposite. Power Captains: Bowser, Bowser Jr., Wario, Donkey Kong.

4

Select players according to position. Make sure to put players at positions that fit their abilities. You want slower players with less fielding talent at positions like catcher, first base, and third base because those positions don't get as much action as others. There are no designated hitters. You want fast players in the outfield and characters with good range in the in the middle infield. The player with the best pitching arm goes on the mound. You will also want your catcher to have strong arm to throw out potential base-stealers. Arm strength is also a plus at positions like shortstop and right field.

5

Now adjust your batting order. You want fast and reliable players in the first and second spots. You should have more balanced players in the third spot, your big power hitters in the fourth, fifth and sixth spots. Characters that you don't trust as much with the bat, or that just don't fit anywhere else, fill in the seventh, eighth and ninth spots.

Here is a mock lineup...

1. Speed Player

2. Speed/Technique Player

3. Balance/Power player

4. Power Player

5. Power Player

6. Power/Balance Player

7. Balance/Technique Player

8. Technique Player

9. Speed Player

6

Select the number of innings to be played and whether you want to be home team or away. The home team has a slight advantage. If you are just learning, choose a smaller inning amount. You can choose from 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 innings.

7

Pitching and Fielding:

When pitching, make sure you change your pitches all the time, meaning throwing fastballs, curves and change-ups as randomly as possible. If you get predictable, the batter catches on, and could potentially get a big hit. When your pitcher gets tired, switch arms right away. To do this, press Start and select Change Positions.

When out-fielding, just get in or around the circle (it shows where the ball will land) and if it turns red, that means you will catch the ball if you stay where you are. To catch fly balls, you don't have to do anything besides run to where the ball will land. Only press "A" if you are forced to make a leaping or diving catch. As for in-fielding, just let the ball come to you. To throw you can press "A" and nothing else, and the ball will automatically be thrown to the best possible location, usually first base. You may also use the control pad to select a base to throw to in the event you have multiple places to throw to. Tilt it right along with "A" for first base, up for second, left for third, and down for home. If the character cannot reach the ball on their own and it looks like it will go to the outfield, press "A" to make a leaping or diving catch. And if you still can't get there in time, it would have gone past you anyway, so no harm done.

8

Batting: Only use the charge swing occasionally, preferably only with your power hitters. Using the charge swing with a character with weaker batting skill usually results in a fly-out. If you have good timing and practice enough, you can hit bloop singles (base hits that drop between the infielders and outfielders) with almost any player.

Home-runs and Big Hits: If you want to hit a homer, you have to position your batter just right and have perfect timing. You want the ball to hit the sweet spot of the bat (usually near the middle, where the bat's logo is) when the bat is perfectly parallel to the ball.

9

Player Chemistry. This is something new to video games. Player chemistry is basically the relationship one player has with another. For instance: If the shortstop has good chemistry with the first baseman, when the shortstop attempts to throw to first, the ball will fly with greater speed and accuracy. If the shortstop is an enemy of the first baseman the throws to first will be wildly off-target, sometimes flying right past the player. The same is true with batting. If the batter has good chemistry with a player on base, then that player is more likely to get a hit or home-run. Bad chemistry does not affect batting, only fielding.

10

If you follow these steps and tips, you should be a successful ball player. Good luck!